To:HIS BROTHER

Published:First published in 1929 in the journalProletarskaya RevolyutsiyaNo. 6.

      Sent from Shushenskoye to Podolsk.

      Printed from 
 the original.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1977,

      Moscow,Volume 37,

      pages224-227.Translated:The Late George H. HannaTranscription\Markup:D. MorosPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive.You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work, as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

January 26, 1899

Ihave received your letter about guns and hasten to
reply without awaiting the promised price list. I have the
price list of the gunsmith’s shop belonging to I.
Schönbruner (Stary Gazetny Street, between Tverskaya and
Nikitskaya Streets, in the house of Tolmachov), which Mark sent
me last winter. The most suitable on the list seem to me
to be the centre-fire guns by August Francott in Lüttich,
pp. 6-7 (45–55 rubles with a choke barrel—incidentally, is
it true that the choke increases the concentration of the
shot and the accuracy of the gun, as the price list claims
and as I have heard from sportsmen? If so, it must be a
very useful thing—12 and 16 calibre, weight about 7 1/2 lbs)
—and on page 22, a light gun by the same firm (6 1/2 lbs, and
a barrel of 14 1/2
vershki[1]and not 17, also with a choke,
65 rubles for a
12 calibre).[2]You ask about calibre and
weight. I have a 12 calibre gun and I have some cartridges
(brass) of that calibre left (made by Y. Torbek; I paid 12
kopeks each for them); this is the
size.[3]

However,you’ll probably have to buy new cartridges
(25, brass, will be enough, I think) because the cartridges
have to fit the gun exactly. And so you must choose the
calibre and weight yourself; it is not important, as longas it has a good range (it goes without saying that, all other
things being equal, a light gun is preferable; perhaps it
really is better to have a heavier barrel, in case of necessity
it can be scoured, and it won’t break or buckle so easily.
I have been spoiled, you know, with my light plain-bore
gun!). I was particularly interested in the terms
Schönbruner offers; “selection of the gun is made by the purchaser
if he is present at the test, or by the shop” (p. 3), and not
a word about any special payment for a test! But you
should not leave it to the shop, of course, to make the
selection, you must test the gun yourself and measure the spread
of the
shot[4]and take the test sheets. It is strange that they
should test it “at
50 arshins[5]” (p. 3 N.B.)! What the devil
do they mean by that? What game can you shoot at a
distance of
17 sagenes?[6]I always tested my gun at 25 to30sagenes. That, incidentally, may be due to my
inexperience. If you “hold a consultation” (oho!) all this will
probably be weighed up. I was extremely surprised to learn
that Schönbruner considers the weight of a gun for transport
purposes to be 35 pounds (sic! p. 108—“over long
distances”). That’s scandalous—17 rubles 50 kopeks! The gun
weighs 7 1/2 lbs which is 4 rubles and for the box (you write)
about 2 rubles, which comes to about 7 rubles, just as I
wrote to you and as I have been told in Minusinsk. Would
it not be better to order a box yourself and send it? A device
for filling cartridges, the simplest kind (I have one that
cost a ruble seventy-five kopeks; the thing for getting the
caps out is just a spike on a stick. In Schönbruner’s price
list, p. 75, fig. No. 133, the “ordinary local” kind are 1
ruble 75 kopeks). I do not need a game bag (when I kill
anything I bring it home on a bit of ordinary string!), I
have a cartridge pouch, a soldier’s (leather) cartridge box
that holds 12 cartridges, and the other 8 or 9 go in my
pocket; there is also a sling, although it would be better to fit
a ring for it in the shop, if it can be done. What do you mean
by “caps of a suitable calibre”? Caps are the same size for
all breech-loaders, aren’t they? I am marking out the sizeof my caps at the
top[7];

if they are not the same size you had
better send about 500, of course, or even more; here only
the kind I have are available.

Withregard to wads—I use ordinary newspaper and
thought buying them an unnecessary luxury. If I am wrong
in that (if wads are important for striking power) and if
they are really cheap (as you write), then send me either
some wads or an instrument for cutting them (in the price
list p. 92, 75 kopeks; I have heard that it is a very
convenient thing to have. Write and tell me whether you use
one and what sort of cardboard you use). There is no need
to buy a cover specially—I have a simple one, the old one
they gave me in the shop in Krasnoyarsk with the
gun.[8]One of the comrades tells me that wire brushes are very
useful.

Ithink that is all. If there is a second-hand gun that
has been tested and has no defects in the barrel, of course
it is worth while taking it. Address the gun to Yelizaveta
Vasilyevna. There is no great hurry—it should be here
by March 1, and even the end of March will be all right.

Iam very, very glad that your case is taking a turn for
the better, and that there are fresh hopes of getting into
the University. The mistake at the beginning of § II of
Chapter IV (p. 346) you did well to notice; thanks for that. It
should read 41.3million
chetverts[12]and not
14.3.[9]In my
first rough copy I had it right, in the second rough copy
I made a mistake and did not notice the absurdity.Please
send the correction immediately. With regard to the word
“rational” in the quotation from Kablukov, there is no
need to change it; there is no doubt that here Kablukov
means “reasonable” and not technically rational;I alsounderstood “rational” to mean “reasonable” and not
“technically rational”. I ridiculed him on this point becausehis argument is pure tautology, since the Narodniks
consider natural economy to be “reasonable”. Should the
reader understand “rational” in the second case differently
from the first (i.e., different in Kablukov’s words than in
mine)?[10]

Tobaccoplantations actually number 75—95—650thousand(i.e., 75,000, 95,000,
650,000).[11]

Skatingis something I do with the greatest of zeal. In
Minusinsk, Gleb showed me a number of tricks (he is a
good skater) and I have been practising them with such
industry that once I hurt my hand and could not write for
two days. My old skill has not been forgotten. This kind
of exercise is far better than winter shooting, when you
flounder up to your knees in snow, spoil your gun and
rarely see any game!

Allthe best,V. U.

[1]About25 1/2 inches; vershok=1 3/4 inches (approx.).—Ed.

[2]Thereare cheaper guns: 42 rubles (p. 10), 35 rubles (p. 14,
fig. No. 18, without choke). If it shoots well and is reliable, that
will do. I am not interested in the ornament. 12 calibre is a bit
big, perhaps 16 calibre would be better.
—Lenin

[3]HereLenin drew a small circle in pencil.—Ed.

[4]Itis as well to take the measurement if they test the gun in
the shop, otherwise there will be a lot of trouble getting it.
—Lenin

[5]Arshin=28inches.—Ed. 
 —Lenin

[6]Sagene=sevenfeet.—Ed.

[7]HereLenin drew an arrow pointing to the margin where he
showed the size of the cap in pencil.—Ed.

[8]Willthe cover from a single-barrelled gun do? Incidentally,
I think it would be better to get one made here, they sting you badly
in the shops.
—Lenin

[9]CollectedWorks, Vol. 3, p. 257—Ed.

[10]CollectedWorks, Vol. 3, p. 256.—Ed.

[11]Ibid., p. 300.—Ed.

[12]Chetvert—a Russian measure of capacity used prior to the
introduction of the metric system; it equalled about 45 gallons.